Khaled Said Verdict - and Egyptian Justice - Delayed Again

Khaled Said Verdict - and Egyptian Justice - Delayed Again

Article excerpt

A verdict for two policemen accused in the murder of Khaled Said,
the young man whose beating death helped spark Egypt's revolution,
was postponed until September.

The verdict in the case of Khaled Said, a young businessman whose
murder last June planted the seeds for the nation's revolution, was
postponed today until Sept. 24, once again delaying justice.

"I've been waiting for the verdict, but this is how it works in
Egypt," says Omar al-Shamy, a young man who was injured by a tear-
gas canister and metal pellets fired by police in the early hours of
Wednesday morning. "I didn't expect the postponement, but I'm not
surprised."

The deferral could work in favor of Said's family, however.
Officials from the Alexandria Criminal Court said the delay was to
create time to form an investigative committee to examine two
autopsy reports and pictures while the two accused policemen are in
custody, Reuters reported.

The Said case is of symbolic importance to Egypt's revolution,
which stemmed in part from a Facebook page called "We are all Khaled
Said." Created by Google executive Wael Ghonim, the page attracted
tens of thousands of members fed up with police brutality and
torture. It helped spark the uprising that brought hundreds of
thousands more to the streets for 18 days of revolutionary protests
that ultimately led to Mubarak's ouster.

"This case mobilized people in a way never seen before in Egypt
and it was part of the buildup that led to Tahrir," says Heba
Morayef of Human Rights Watch. Torture and abuse cases have been
widespread in Egypt for decades, but police are seldom held
accountable.

Many suspect that the forensic documents regarding the case are
fabricated. For instance, early police reports said Mr. Said died
because he choked on a packet of marijuana that he swallowed when
the police entered the cafe, despite multiple witnesses who say they
saw policemen beating him. His family insists Said didn't even smoke
tobacco.

Said was dragged from an Internet cafe in the northern city of
Alexandria in June and beaten and killed. His alleged assailants are
policemen Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Ismael Soliman. He had
earlier posted online video that appeared to show members of Sidi
Gaber police station - where both Mr. Salah and Mr. Soliman work -
dividing up the proceeds of a drug bust.

This isn't the first time the verdict has been postponed. But
this delay comes amid boiling tension over police brutality and
delayed justice. Beginning Tuesday, outraged protesters clashed with
police in the Nile-side neighborhood of Agouza and later moved to
Tahrir Square. Clashes carried on into Wednesday morning, leaving
more than 1,000 people injured, according to Ministry of Health
statistics. …